The Dreamer and the Dreamt
by DarthGrieve
Summary: Before Grievous...there was Sheelal. My take on General Grievous' life before he became the cyborg butcher feared by sentients across the galaxy. Will contain romance later and due to that I might consider re-rating this if need be...
1. Chapter 1

He was barely a child of ten at the time. The cacophony of the insectoid horde's screeching and the clash of battle in the dark jungles of Kalee was nigh deafening. The chaos of it could have driven any mere child mad with fear.

But he was no mere child.

Using a Czerka Outland Rifle and the short durasteel bayonet it carried on its barrel, the young Kaleesh warrior leapt into battle and started clearing a bloody path through the chitinous aliens. Brains and bodies he reduced into foul smelling paste and pieces without respite. He had no fear or mercy in his heart as he bashed and slashed the invading Yam'rii or _Huk_, 'soulless bug' in the Kaleesh tongue. His rampage had one goal; to kill as much of the invaders as he can. Despite his young age, it was a skill he was unmatched in.

In just a few minutes the child warrior managed to fight his way to a sheltered outcrop, leaving dozens of dead Huk in his wake. Already his mumuu skull mask and war-torn clothing were splattered with liberal amounts of the insectoid invaders' blood. There in his secure perch, he loaded his rifle methodically even as the battle swarmed around him. His heart thrummed not out of fear but out of excitement for he would bring down the wrath of the gods themselves on the vile insects.

"Now...who dies first?" the young Qymaen Jai Sheelal smiled behind his mask as he took aim and primed his rifle.

Ten long years had passed and the Huk War went on. Bloodier, bolder and more brutal than ever as Kaleesh and Yam'rii alike resorted to the most merciless of tactics in an attempt to stamp each other out. Many a great warrior had risen and fallen in the long conflict. Heroes and villains, all of which commanding the respect and awe of ally and enemy alike. All of them were great warriors. All of them were godlike.

Yet among these beings stood one whose legend was unmatched.

No longer was he the child warrior who had destroyed as much of the invader as the most battle hardened Kaleesh veteran. Dressed in a long, white cape-like garb, a mumuu skull mask and armed with the same rifle which had taken the lives of countless Huk, Qymaen Jai Sheelal strode to the forefront of the Kaleesh legions, the _kolkpravis._In those years, he had risen to become a khan despite his young age.

As he walked through his forces, they knelt down in reverence for he had long been considered a demigod. He was their weapon, their scourge, and their vengeance against the soulless bugs whose endless greed had led them to oppress the native Kaleesh and plunder what little their world had.

The _kolkpravis_camp had been situated in Tyrmopylai, a narrow pass surrounded by nearly impenetrable mountains. Recently, the Kaleesh forces had been driven back further and further in this region by the enemy. Although seemingly trivial, Tyrmopylai was a site that no Kaleesh would ever surrender to the enemy as it was one of the few gateways into Aussez Steppes, home to Shrupak, the Holy of Holies for all Kaleesh. Knowing this was a battle they could not lose, the _kolkpravis_ had sought the aid of the greatest hero in all Kalee.

The young warlord gazed at the battle brewing below from the high cliffs of Tyrmopylai. He saw native _Rapator_ tanks engage the Yam'rii Arachnoid walkers and automata in mortal combat. His golden eyes absorbed those _kolkpravis_ ferociously defending the narrow pass to their last breaths even as they succumbed to the Huk hordes' bladelike appendages and particle weapons. The rivers of blood and oil seemed to flow endlessly as the battle raged on.

Perhaps to the other _kolkpravis_ stationed there on the clifftop, the scene may have looked grim. The Yam'rii simply outnumbered them by too far a margin. All of them, though with grief in their hearts, were resigned and prepared to give their lives in what would be a futile attempt to stem the invasion from desecrating their most sacred temple. _He_ was not one of them.

The young khan saw all of it.

He heard all of it.

He _sensed_ all of it.

In his bones, in his skin, in his very soul, he let the battle flow through him.

Ignominious defeat seemed to loom. Death to the _kolkpravis_ and their great leader Sheelal.

He should have despaired. He should have panicked. He should have considered retreat. Instead, he did something else. Something utterly insane.

Sheelal laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the long delay guys...you wouldn't believe the amount of work my course put me through. Anyway, here's the next chapter :) Just for the record, yes I've always imagined pre-cyborg Grievous as being like Leonidas in temperament and choice of words hence the slight ripoff of the lines from _300_**

**All characters owned by LucasArts.**

* * *

II

Softly at first he did. Eventually, whatever Sheelal had noticed had driven him to such a fit of mirth that he dropped to his knees.

His forces were utterly taken aback. Had their khan lost his mind?

A warrior stepped forward from the shocked _kolkpravis _to come to their leader's aid. He was immense even by Kaleesh standards and had a reputation for ferocity on the battlefield surpassed only by his being a member of Sheelal's elite cadre and the one of the seven greatest warriors to have ever walked their world, the _Izvoshra_.

"My lord!" Bentilais san Sk'ar said as he helped the still-laughing khan to his feet, "what has taken hold of you?"

Sheelal was still chuckling when he made his reply, "Only thoughts which bring great joy to my heart. Are the particle shields still functional?"

Sk'ar was dumbfounded. _Had _the khan lost all reason? "Yes Lord Sheelal, the shields are still operational. But we're afraid we do not understand your logic," he then motioned to the worried _kolkpravis_ behind them, "that barrier won't hold the Huk for long."

The young warlord then stood up and swept his arm over the sight of the grim battle. "Look around, my friends! Do you not see that _we_ have the advantage?"

A confused murmur of dissent from the masked horde was the only reply.

"Look around! The enemy has doomed themselves this day," Sheelal then said firmly, as if he had not been laughing like a madman moments before, "They will not pass through Tyrmopylai. Of that _all of us_ can be sure!"

The young khan then motioned for Sk'ar. "Order our forces on the plain to fall back into the pass. I want a _full_ retreat immediately. Also, send word to the shield operators. I want that particle shield up and running at a hundred percent."

"Yes, my lord." And the great Kaleesh warrior produced a comlink where he transmitted the message to the remaining _kolkpravis_ still in battle below and to those who operated the sector's defensive shield.

Sheelal then turned to his forces again and brandished his arm toward the war-torn scene behind him.

"Look how the Huk swarm around. Mindless. Stupid. Like a plague they destroy and consume all they touch. But like any pest they can be stamped out. Look and see how the Earthmother herself has lent us her aid!"and he jabbed his finger at the deep, narrow pass itself. "See how they funnel themselves to their doom! "

At that many of the _kolkpravis _finally got Sheelal's idea and started to cheer.

"_Superior_ numbers they might have! But we know that _we _are the better warriors!"

"_They_ know that _one_ Kaleesh can best any _ten_ Huk! We are the _best of the best! _On this day, we will fight!" he said as he raised his fist in the air

"On this day we will bring down the scourge of the gods on their heads! Now—attend!"

The cheer from the masked horde, all of whom were standing then and ready for battle, was deafening. Sheelal then commanded the _kolkpravis _to listen closely to his battleplan. At the end of it, as they marched to the mouth of the pass, every Kaleesh warrior who had heard their khan's words was confident and giddy in anticipation of a most glorious battle.


End file.
